2 genes on one plasmid

In article <489j1s$grj at saba.info.ucla.edu>, Sami Kohan <skohan at ucla.edu> wrote:
> I'm trying to build a vector with two genes and was going to use the same
> promoter twice. However I was told that it would cause recomibinations
> and otherwise mess up my experiment, however if the promoters are only
> 50bp it seems to my unexpert opinion to be too small of a homology to
> cause recombination. Any one have any experience with this?
I know of a few experiments where a plasmid, carrying two nearly identical
genes was constructed.
In my research I worked with a plasmid which carried two alleles of the
alcohol dehydrogenase gene from Drosophila melanogaster. The genes were
nearly identical. The one thing I can tell you is that when the plasmids
were introduced into Drosophila embryos and assayed for ADH activity in
3rd instar larvae, I found that the two genes interacted resulting in a
coordinated level of expression. This was observed ONLY when the plasmids
remained episomal. When the genes were integrated into the Drosophila
genome, the interaction was disrupted.
Good luck
--
-Rich
Friedmrd at post.drexel.edu or rfriedma at astro.temple.edu
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